Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA

Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA trimmed its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) by 12.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,123 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 726 shares during the period. Verizon Communications makes up approximately 1.1% of Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $202,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. HBC Financial Services PLLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $30,000. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 273.5% during the third quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 1,016 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 744 shares during the period. Hoese & Co LLP lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 41.0% during the third quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 1,077 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 313 shares during the period. Ten Capital Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 38.7% during the third quarter. Ten Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,236 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the period. Finally, Avion Wealth lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 273.3% during the third quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 1,284 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 940 shares during the period. 60.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 6,226 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.69, for a total transaction of $228,431.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 67,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,493,672.54. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the subject of several research reports. Moffett Nathanson upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $41.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, December 19th. Tigress Financial decreased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $68.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Friday, December 16th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $41.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.6 %

VZ stock opened at $36.79 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $154.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.36. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.55 and a 52 week high of $55.51.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $35.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.14 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 24.60% and a net margin of 15.53%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 6th. This represents a $2.61 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.09%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.58%.

About Verizon Communications

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Verizon Communications, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of communications, information, and entertainment products and services. It operates through the Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business) segments. The Consumer segment provides consumer-focused wireless and wire line communications services and products.